Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed. has been working and teaching in the field of early childhood education for over 30 years. Deborah currently owns and teaches in her own part-time, private preschool called The Children’s Studio. Deborah’s deep passion for teaching and working with young children is documented and then graciously shared with millions of readers around the world through her blog and other social networking communities. Deborah believes that young children learn best through play and exploration and embraces this belief in all that she does in her own classroom so that she can effectively and passionately share rewarding, real- life, tried-and-true practices with other teachers, parents, and leaders across the field of early childhood education.

14 Comments

Cathy @ NurtureStorePostedDecember 20, 20117:09 am

It’s always fun to ‘hide’ something for the children to discover – I love hot choc playdough idea.

EstherPostedDecember 20, 20118:35 am

That’s a fun day! Hot Cocoa play day sounds exciting! I like the idea of Marshmallow prints/stamping!

Karen @ PreKindersPostedDecember 20, 201110:06 am

Great ideas! You’ve just given me an idea for January’s prop box play – hot cocoa!

SuzannePostedDecember 20, 201110:49 am

What a wonderful idea! The chocolate playdough looks lovely! So much fun!

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed.PostedDecember 20, 20118:38 pm

Hi Cathy,
The children didn’t realize there was anything in the hot cocoa can for quite awhile so it just sat on the table until finally, one of the children asked me what I had all the playdough toys out for. I said, “well, why don’t you look inside the can and see?”

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed.PostedDecember 20, 20118:38 pm

The children really liked the marshmallow painting. It added some extra fun to this activity for sure:)

Deborah J. Stewart, M.Ed.PostedDecember 20, 20118:39 pm

Yay!! I love prop boxes. That is something I would like to spend more time on putting together but I am afraid that it will have to wait until the summer:)

I absolutely love the hot cocoa themed play dough. So cute! I’ll have to use that next year mixed with a poem I have comparing hot chocolate to Christ’s birth. I added a link to your post to my website today. Here’s the link in case you want to check it out.